Explanations
by Toadflame
Summary: Some people learn differently.  Apparently, Martians need a demonstration.


**One of many down…**

**This is from the YJCF, the **_**Fairytale Challenge**_**, but there was mythology there as well, and I got Greek mythology! Which is perfect because I know like, 7/8 of all the myths there are…**

**So, **_**Epochal Eclipse**_**, giver of this totally awesome challenge, -insert very witty comment pertaining to Greek gods/goddesses here-, I hope this is good from my puny mortal brain!**

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Megan shook her head, confused. "Um, I still don't get it."

Black Canary hung her head, some of the blond strands of her hair hanging over her face. "OK." She pointed to the board. "Zeus, the king of the gods, is the son of Kronos and Rhea. His siblings are Demeter, Hera, Hestia, Poseidon, and Hades. He is the father of Apollo, Artemis, Athena, Hephaestus, Ares, Dionysus, Persephone, and Hermes, who are all major gods and goddesses. He's also the father of countless children, most notable being Helen of Troy, Heracles, Minos, Orion, Perseus, and Tantalus. Do you follow me so far?"

"Yes."

"OK. Now, Zeus had a lot of lovers as well, including Aphrodite, who is his daughter in some myths, and Persephone. His wife, according to most legends, is Hera. He's also had a lover in Demeter, Maia, and Leto."

"That is what I do not get," Megan interrupted. "Why did he have so many lovers in his siblings and children?"

Canary sighed. They'd been at this for several hours already, on what should've been a 45-minute lesson. She was about to speak when the others, who had been at their own schooling in their respective cities, came in.

"Hi!" Megan said cheerily from her seat. "We were just talking about mythology. Maybe you can help?"

"I've tried explaining Zeus to her for three hours!" Canary burst out. "Kaldur and Superboy-they're taking it in, but she's the one who is trying to argue that no one could have that many…everything!"

Robin looked at the board. "Interesting," he said. "So, you haven't gotten past Zeus yet?"

"Oh God," Canary said, eyes widening. "I'm leaving before I get into _that_ mess."

"Why?" Megan asked. Superboy had fallen asleep an hour ago, and Kaldur was reading something else. "Why did he have so many lovers when he had a wife, and why did he try to have-"

"Whoa, let's slow down," Wally said, then blinked. "How ironic is that?"

"It's not," Robin snorted, pointing to the board. "OK, Greek mythology is easy to understand. You have Zeus." He waved to Wally. "And you have Hera." He gestured to Artemis. "You know how KF and Artemis are always flinging insults back and forth? Put that to immortal beings, and it's a mess. That's how Hera is in most myths: she and Zeus do not get along. At all. So, you have Zeus, who decides that he doesn't want that anymore. But, since Hera's the goddess of marriage and, no matter how much she detests her 'husband,' she's not willing to divorce him. Now, Megan, stand up for a sec. You're going to be a beautiful mortal-"

"Like this?" she asked, turning her green skin a lightly bronzed look, with long, curly blond hair and blue eyes.

"Oh, yeah, sweet cheeks," Wally said, sidling up to her. "But then again, you look good _all_ the time."

"Oh, yeah?" Artemis mocked. "Hey, blue-eyed blond right over here. But no, you just don't like me."

"Exactly," Robin said, nodding. "You see, Zeus basically chased after anything in a skirt, or dress-like things, as it were, and Hera, like Artemis did, got jealous."

"I was not jealous!" Artemis said, outraged, but she was shushed by Robin.

"Anyway, he had all these kids because he pretty much had, like, a one-night stand every night, and they didn't exactly have contraceptives back then. And let's face it, most girls back then wouldn't have cared if they got laid by the ugliest god up there on Olympus, they just wanted to be able to say that they got laid by a god. And Hera didn't like that, which is why there were several of Zeus' kids that got curses on them because of that."

Megan's eyes began to get a look of understanding as she shifted back to normal. "I think I'm starting to get it," she said, then frowned. "But wait, that doesn't explain why he had affairs with his daughters and sisters."

Robin waved a hand. "I don't get it either, I think it has to do with him thinking that his wife was ugly and his daughters and other sisters were beautiful or something like that. Greek mythology isn't very clear."

"How do you know so much about it?" Kaldur asked. He had stopped reading when Robin was explaining how Zeus and his lovers worked, and was curious as to how the thirteen-year-old had come to know so much.

"School project," Robin said, looking uncomfortable. "We were each assigned some form of mythology, and we had to explain what we thought the head god's reasoning behind some of his specific actions were. I got Greek mythology and decided to do mine on why Zeus didn't get along with his wife and had, like, a bajillion kids because of it."

"Oh, I remember doing something similar," Wally piped in, having finished with trying to play Zeus. "Except that we just read the myths and had to explain the role that one or more of the god's played in it. I did mine on something to do with Echo and Narcissus."

"Oh, that legend?" Robin asked. "That's been a favorite of mine for years."

"Why? What happens?" Megan asked, being drawn in despite herself.

"Well, there's a nymph named Echo, and she's detaining Hera because Zeus is frolicking with the other nymphs," Robin began."And Echo was always having to have the last word in a conversation," Wally continued. "She was like this little chatterbox all the time."

"And when Hera figured it out, she put a curse on Echo that she could only repeat the last words of whatever someone said. Like an echo."

"After that, she fell in love with a mortal walking through the words: Narcissus. He got separated from his group and was looking for them. She called out the last words that he said, and when she revealed herself, he pushed her away."

"But he pushed all the nymphs away," Artemis said, getting into the tale as well. "So finally, one got fed up after he rejected her, and a vengeful goddess granted her prayer, that he fall in love without reciprocation."

"He came across a stream," Robin said, picking the myth back up. "He looked into the waters, and fell in love with himself. Echo had died by then, but her voice lingered, and she watched as he pretty much died right there when he didn't eat, sleep, drink, etc. that humans need to survive."

"And what I did for my project was how it would've turned out differently had Zeus not fallen for nymphs and Hera hadn't gone looking for her husband that day," Wally said.

They all jumped at a small groan; Kaldur had gone out of the room when they were in the middle of the story, having muttered something about 'needing to get some real work done' and they'd all forgotten about the slumbering Superboy.

"What'd I miss?" he asked groggily.

"Just the explanation about Zeus and his multiple lovers," Megan said.

Superboy grunted noncommittally, but asked, "So, what happened with that?"

"Oh, all sorts of stuff!" Megan said. She clapped a hand to her forehead. "Hello, Megan! We should explain it to you!"

Artemis, Wally, and Robin looked at each other, then ran for the door.

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**Heehee, sorry it's late. By like, over a week. But I hope it was worth the wait! And that I'm accurate in the names…Roman and Greek mythology are so closely intertwined, it's easy to get the names mixed up (like Hercules and Heracles-same guy, but Heracles is the Greek compared to the Roman Hercules), and the site I was using to refresh my mind on the finer details of the Narcissus and Echo myth used Juno and Jupiter instead of Hera and Zeus, respectively, but know that the myth happened in BOTH Roman and Greek, and I was shooting for Greek. If I got Roman in there, I'm sorry.**

**Concrit appreciated as always!**

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EDIT: Thanks _meg444_, who pointed out that I spelled 'mortal' wrong-I spelled it right the first two times, but put moral instead of mortal the second time, which is why I didn't catch it (it's a word). *headdesk* Thanks!


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